Various Artists Beck: Guerolito

To tune up Guero would require as nonchalant and dexterous an approach as Beck employed to create the original. But somehow the sonic alchemy here, steeped in bossa/mariachi/electro-clashing, results in one of the tightest remix records of any popular artist. Boards of Canada, Beastie Boy Adrock, and Homelife take sharp stabs at re-digitizing the melodious hooks and analog electronics floating inside this LA native‘s mind. While it‘s a commendable homage, nothing beats Air‘s big-synth ‘80s tinkering on "Heaven Hammer (Missing)," which sounds as if it were pulled from the soundtrack of a coming-of-age John Cusack flick.